


Once upon a time...

by Gyoro_and_Ururun



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Darcy Lewis, F/M, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Loki Redemption, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 02:05:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9152719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gyoro_and_Ururun/pseuds/Gyoro_and_Ururun
Summary: ...in New York, the city that will either never sleep again or will literally sleep forever thanks to Mr. Odin "I like to dump my naughty boys on Earth" Asgard man. THANK YOU! Not.Or a tale in which Darcy finds herself in a great job with the Avengers where no day is the same, sometimes she plays babysitter to these grown ass Avengers (yes, even those SHIELD agents, who need to learn to have fun) and finds out that there's a dirty little secret being kept away from her.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Whyndancer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whyndancer/gifts).



> Hello! So this is a gift for Whyndancer, who was my Secret Tasertot in the Secret Santa gift exchange 2016. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it and hopefully it will get better. I do plan to try and fit as many of the tropes you enjoy into this, and you're always welcome to send me more! 
> 
> I hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a happy new year. <3
> 
> ALSO: I have no idea whether I will up the rating in the future, I will give a warning though.

 

Working for the Avengers and Stark Industries (it was a kind of mixed job; she was like a PA, a researcher and other things all in one. She was awesome at it, though) was an amazing and very strange experience all wrapped up into one. For one, all six of them were not exactly your average people. One was a hotshot billionaire, playbunny, philosopher, genius or something like that, she was only half-listening. He had a mouth that rivalled her own. Next up her favourite for president, he was actually the most normal.

After that, there is the reclusive genius scientist guy who turns into the jolly green giant. She kept asking him for sweetcorn and he kept asking her if Tony put her up to it. Darcy had giggled and tapped her nose. Leave a bit of mystery in there! Of course, Thor was a no-brainer; he was an alien and had clearly eaten a megaphone. Clint and Natasha, well, the less said about them the better, probably.

But she loved them. Not in that serious sense of the word; she didn’t know them very well! They were just so hilarious and it killed her that S.H.I.E.L.D. had told her no facebook. Until Tony had told her yes facebook. Okay, perhaps more yes twitter; she was the Avengers PA and she was allowed to write all kinds of stuff as long as it wasn’t dangerous to safety and stuff.

Darcy felt a little like she had stepped into some sort of crazy fantasy or Disney movie, though; she’d received a warning from Tony, _Tony_ , that she should not visit and could not visit the third floor. It also made her think of a McFly song, but that was beside the point. If Tony was telling her she couldn’t go somewhere then it had to be serious, right? He was a pretty laid back guy (well, in a manner of speaking; she’d seen him work and there was nothing lethargic about that!), with rules and regulations being something of a thorn in his side.

It intrigued her, but she followed his one golden rule. Okay one out of a few golden rules, though there were a number of joke ones in there.

Okay, she mostly followed it.

Darcy stood in the elevator one particular day, on her way back up to her apartment and she couldn’t help but look at the blank button where the number three should be. It was the forbidden third corridor, the West Wing, all of those other references aplenty! The button was right there, not quite that red button of doom which ultimately you had a horrible urge to press (like the Doctor did in the Sycorax ship), but tempting nonetheless. She looked around before reaching forward to press it.

So sue her, she was terrible.

Nothing happened.

"Miss. Lewis, you do not have authorisation to access that floor," Jarvis spoke up.

"I figured as much; can’t blame a girl for being curious, eh?" Darcy said.

"Curiosity, however, is believed to have killed the cat, Miss. Lewis. Shall I take you to the fifth floor?" Jarvis replied.

Ominous. What was on that floor?! Darcy was even more curious, but only in the theoretical manner. She wasn’t usually particularly reckless in that sense; she wanted to keep her job and her life. Admittedly being so close to the Avengers had its risks, she knew that, but that was really as far as it went.

"Yeah, fifth floor. Thanks, Jarvis."

 

The next day, it was back to work. Though she agreed to help out any day she was needed if absolutely necessary, Darcy generally worked during week days and had her weekends off. So far so good, too, nothing demanding. It was perfect and yet, she felt like it was a little _too_ good to be true. Now she didn’t want to sound like a cynic, but she’d been screwed over in the past with these sorts of jobs. Albeit, part-time while she studied. She got a good gig in an office that had everything to do with her degree (political science with a minor in computer science) and nothing to do with the shitty retail or waitress jobs she’d had.

But guess what? Yes, you guessed it, it fell through. They lied. They wanted free labour. Darcy had said it would be the last time she worked for free but holy shit did she not regret working for Jane for free. That and it was for college credits. And now she was working with the Avengers.

Speaking of which, she walked into the lab and saw Tony there…and she knew from experience that he’d done an all-nighter. She walked up to him and tapped him in the arm.

"Hey mister, get to bed," Darcy said.

"I’m so close, I swear. To finishing. And not in the sexy way, I’ll need—" Tony started, and she could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Speaking of Pepper, I have her on speed dial. I could call her and tell her—" Darcy started, but Tony stood up and put his finger over his lips.

"Fine fine, you win. Again. Just don’t let her in here," Tony said, leaving the lab.

Darcy looked at the bench where his project still lay and smiled. She had no clue what it was, not really, but she knew it was for the lovely blonde woman who turned that playbunny into a committed bunny. Darcy left the lab and locked it up. Well, told Jarvis to lock it up; he was an awesome AI. But that was part of her job; she didn’t often find Tony like that, though he had been more so like that in the past, he’d cut down on it some after the whole Mandarin thing. He continued to build suits, but not in an unhealthy manner and he was being a responsible adult and going to a therapist.

Then there was Steve. He was pretty low-maintenance; Darcy didn’t really feel the need to help him whilst being paid, but her job wasn’t always floating around checking on them either. There wasn’t a lot of paperwork or emails to attend to right now, events were on the quiet side and all of her other tasks were currently on hold. In fact, her job was pretty mixed up and she loved it. No set pattern, it really fit her.

She found Steve in the penthouse lounge where she’d said she would meet him to watch a film and inundate him some more on modern life, but honestly Darcy thought he was doing pretty damn well for himself. Darcy also thought he was a super nice guy, though she quickly learnt he was no pushover either. He and Tony got on like brothers who just about got along, which involved a lot of arguing over senseless things.

Something she’d discovered over time was that Steve wasn’t really into those tragic love stories (which she later found out why), so she only showed him the happy ones. Fine by her because she wasn’t all that impressed by them either. If she wanted to watch a love story end tragically or sadly or badly or whatever, she’d look back on her own miserable love history.

With Bruce, well, he was pretty self-sufficient; a responsible and mature adult who didn’t need telling to go to bed (looking at you, Tony and Jane) or almost force feeding (Jane, yes, you). He did like a non-scientific person to talk to sometimes, and unlike Jane and Tony, he was better at explaining it in a way that a non-scientist would understand and he didn’t make you feel stupid either. Darcy wouldn’t believe he was the Hulk if she hadn’t seen the footage.

Now Thor needed more assimilating into modern life than Steve, and needed assimilating into human life in general. No mugs broken, knocking on doors gently, doing _anything_ gently (she gave him a talk. Jane blushed and he laughed, but told her he would after she gave him a look) and so on. He could be a pretty restless student, but she also knew which buttons to press once she got to know him some.

So all in all, her life was pretty fun.

 

Another day, another dollar (a lot of them, in all honesty, or at least more than she’d ever seen in her life. And Tony said it was just a starting salary. She nearly fainted or at least in her head she did). The phrase didn’t really work very well for her, but it amused her nonetheless. Darcy got into the elevator on the fifth floor and pressed the button to get her to the lobby since they were off out today and it moved as normal.

…Then it came to a sudden stop, it shook as it did and it didn’t stop there. It felt a little like something was hitting the building over and over again, which made her realise that this wasn’t sudden elevator problems.

"Jarvis?" Darcy called out.

Nothing.

Shit.

She pressed the emergency button and banged on it a few times before realising it was pointless. How could she be suddenly stuck? Wasn’t there some emergency procedures for times like this? Darcy pulled out her phone and cursed the fact that there was no signal. She was stuck and there was no way out. She rubbed her face, hoping this was a freaky dream. Or that it would end soon and it would open up. Another shake of the elevator, this one quite bad, made her swallow.

Then Darcy remembered her taser. Upgraded, it was more like a stun gun really, just longer range. She poked it at the controls and zapped it, having no other idea of what to do, and the doors shot open. She knew it had been a stupid and reckless idea, but she had to try _something._ Darcy got out of the elevator and heard a creaking sound, before turning and seeing the elevator shaft plummet to the ground. In shock, she had let out a scream.

She turned back around and looked at the area. Darcy didn’t recognise it, though. And she knew most of the floors. In fact, she knew all the ones below her floor, aside from the third floor. The first floor was administration, the second and fourth floor were S.H.I.E.L.D. and training areas. Fifth was accommodation. She was going downward, which meant only one thing.

The forbidden third floor.

Darcy could almost imagine the dramatic soundtrack right now. It was pretty nondescript, there was barely a hallway and a single door that had a keypad next to it. That was it. Wall, elevator, door. There was a Jarvis panel and she walked up to it.

"Jarvis?" Darcy asked.

Static, but…

"Miss. Lewis…press reset…"

Darcy looked at the panel and found it, pressing the button and waiting.

"What’s going on?" Darcy asked.

"We’re under attack; Mr. Stark and the others are currently dealing with the problem. For now, you will have to wait here," Jarvis said.

"Can I ask…what is this place? What’s that door lead to?" Darcy asked.

"I’m afraid I’m not authorised to tell you that," Jarvis answered.

"Dammit," Darcy said.

"For now you will have to hang in there, Miss. Lewis," Jarvis said.

 

Darcy waited ten minutes, sat against a wall and staring at her phone. She didn’t know how it managed it, but a text came through. It was an unknown number, but there were six numbers in the message itself. That was it. What was it supposed to be? Six numbers, well, that wouldn’t get her out of here. The only numbers around here were on her phone, in the elevator that was now in the pits of tower hell and…oh.

She picked herself up from the ground and walked over to the keypad. Thoughts of who sent it and why drifted out of her mind as she typed in those numbers, and it buzzed. Her eyebrows raised and she looked at it for a moment before taking the handle and swinging it open. Shutting it behind her, she looked around. A large corridor. From above, it would look like the letter T. Two corridors split off to the right and left of her, with a corridor in front of her too. Three doors, one on each side and one straight up, were set into the walls.

"Miss. Lewis, you shouldn’t be down here, you need to go back," Jarvis said.

"I’m sorry, but I’m this far…someone wants me here. It’s not like I have anywhere else to go," Darcy said.

"Miss. Lewis, I can’t protect you if you go in there," Jarvis said.

Just what was _in_ there?!

Darcy shook her head and shrugged. She walked down the corridor and looked from right to left. Then straight up. There were no numbers on them, though there was an L in a name plate next to the door straight up where there was nothing on the other two. She walked straight up and saw another keypad. The same number didn’t work, but she heard a beep and looked at her phone.

More numbers.

Was this a trap?

Her gut said it wasn’t, but she didn’t understand why. She stepped inside and jumped a little when the door shut with a loud slam. _Don’t chicken out now, Lewis!_

It was a bit dark; this corridor looked more like an apartment hallway rather than a hall in some asylum, and she followed the light into another room where there were a few lamps on. A lounge. It wasn’t the most personable, but it was reasonably comfortable. What took her attention was the bookshelves and how neat the place was. Mostly. Looking around more and more, she noticed little things. Scratches, no cushions, and a wonky picture frame.

She pulled it to the side, seeing a hole in the wall and she moved the picture back. Darcy walked back into the hallway and found herself in a bedroom. This…something about it made her turn, but before she could, a voice stopped her.

"Who are you?" A male voice, something that sounded something between British and Scandinavian.

She moved to turn, but his words stopped her again.

"Stay where you are." A growl.

She bolted forward and turned around, seeing a cloaked figure. She couldn’t see his face, nothing. He reminded her of a Dementor. That was worse than Fluffy.

"I don’t want any trouble; I just wanted to know what was down here. Let me go please," Darcy said.

Despite what she was expecting, he moved and he pointed to the door. "Then leave, quickly," he told her.

She frowned for a moment, walking slowly towards the door, careful to watch him for any sudden moves. He seemed to shrink back, as if _he_ was scared of _her_. What the heck was going on? As soon as she was out of the door, she ran out of there and made sure the doors were both shut.

Darcy leant against the wall looking at the elevator, breathing heavily. "Jarvis, who was that? What did I just walk into? Please tell me, I promise I won’t blab," she said.

"That was the New York terrorist, Loki, brother of Thor," Jarvis answered.

Her stomach dropped.

_Loki???!!!_


End file.
